Ice cream maker

ABSTRACT

Apparatus is disclosed for making a frozen dessert of the ice cream type. The apparatus includes a cylindrical vessel having an outer generally cylindrical wall, a horizontally extending bottom wall which is integral with said cylindrical wall and a vertically extending post which extends coaxially with the cylindrical wall and extends upwardly from the bottom wall. The vessel is open ended at its upper end for receiving a liquid mass from which a frozen dessert can be made. The wall and the post are hollow and have therein a chamber. The chamber has a refrigerant therein for freezing the liquid mass. A scraping member is provided for removing the mass from the walls of the vessel as the mass is frozen by the loss of temperature through the shell of the walls and the post.

United States Patent [1 1 Fishman et al.

1451 Dec. 25, 1973 1 ICE CREAM MAKER [73] Assignee: APL Corporation,Great Neck, N.Y. V

-[22] Filed:

Jan. 26, 1973 21 Appl. No.: 326,714

[52] US. Cl 62/342, 62/457, 259/DIG. 34 [51] Int. Cl. F256 7/06 [58]Field Of Search 62/342, 457; 165/94; 259/DIG. 34

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,809,498 10/1957 Allen .L62/342 63 L817 8/1899 Railsback 259/DIG. 34 2,288,044 6/1942 Stemrne.,62/457 Primary Examiner-William E. Wayner Att0rneyA. D. Caesar et al.

[57] ABSTRACT Apparatus is disclosed for making a frozen dessert of theice cream type. The apparatus includes a cylindrical vessel having anouter generally cylindrical wall, a horizontally extending bottom wallwhich is integral with said cylindrical wall and a vertically extendingpost which extends coaxially with the cylindrical wall and extendsupwardly from the bottom wall. The vessel is open ended at its upper'endfor receiving a liquid mass from which a frozen dessert can be made. The

wall and the post are hollow and have therein a chamber. The chamber hasa refrigerant therein for freezing the liquid mass. A scraping member isprovided for removing the mass from the walls of the vessel as the massis frozen by the loss of temperature through the shell of the walls andthe post.

4 Claims, 6 Drawing Figures ICE CREAM MAKER This invention relatesgenerally to ice cream making and more particularly to a new andimproved apparatus for making a frozen dessert of the ice cream typewhich is capable of doing so with ordinary pudding-type dessert.

Portable or personal ice cream making apparatus have suffered from thefollowing disadvantages:

the ice cream must be made from a liquid mass formed of expensive dairyproducts;

the time required for making the ice cream is too long and the workrequired is too extensive;

finally, the cost of the personal or portable ice cream making apparatusis very expensive in view of the complicated structures required for thetransfer of heat from the liquid mass to the refrigerant for thepurposes of freezing the liquid mass in making the ice cream.

The following patents are illustrative of the prior art: U.S. Pat. Nos.491,104, Feb. 7, 1893; 944,625, Dec. 28, 1909; 1,950,781, Mar. 13, 1934;1,978,176, October 23, 1934; 2,288,044, June 30, 1942; 2,526,165, Oct.17, 1950; 2,744,391, May 8, 1956; 2,809,498, Oct. 15, 1957; 3,433,651,Mar. 18, 1969; 3,668,886, June 13, 1972.

Typically, the prior art systems require a liquid mass made of the diaryproducts'which are conventionally used to make ice cream. The devicesare, for the most part, very slow in making ice cream and, where theobject of the prior devices was to make the ice cream 'making processquicker, the elaborate heat exchange elements which have been providedadd considerably to the costs of these prior devices.

It is therefore an object of'the invention to overcome theaforementioned disadvantages of the prior art.

Yet another object of the invention is to provide a new and improvedapparatus for making a frozen dessert of the ice cream type.

Still-another object of the invention is to provide a new and improvedapparatus for making a frozen dessert of the ice cream type which isadapted to use commercially available pudding mixtures as the liquidmass for making the ice cream.

Yet another object of the invention to to provide a new and improvedapparatus which utilizes a unique structure for facilitating the heatexchange between the liquid mass and the refrigerant for increasing thespeed with which ice cream can be made.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a new and improvedice cream maker which is adapted for personal use and which is easilycarried by the user and is simple to use.

These and other objects of the invention are achieved by providingapparatus for making a frozen dessert of the ice cream type. Theapparatus comprises a cylindrical vessel having an outer generallycylindrical wall, a horizontally extending bottom wall and a verticallyextending post which extends coaxially with the cylindrical wall and isintegral with and extends upwardly from the bottom wall. The vessel isopen ended at its upper end for receiving the liquid mass from which thedessert can be made. The walls and the post are hollow and have thereina chamber. The chamber in the walls and post has a refrigerant thereinfor freezing the liquid mass. A scraping member is provided'for removingthe mass from the walls of the vessel as the mass is frozen by the lossof temperature through the walls and the post.

Other objects and many of the attendant advantages of this inventionwill be readily appreciated as the same becomes better understood byreference to the following detailed description when considered inconnection with the accompanying drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of the ice cream maker embodyingthe invention and the holder therefor;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged exploded perspective view of the ice cream maker;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged sectional view taken along the line 33 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along the line 44 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is an enlarged sectional view taken along the line 55 of FIG. 3;and

FIG. 6 is an enlarged view of the section taken within the area 6 ofFIG. 3.

Referring now in greater detail to the various figures of the drawingswherein like reference numerals refer to like parts, an ice cream makerembodying the invention is shown generally at in FIG. 1.

As best seen in FIGS. 1 and 2, the ice cream maker 20 basicallycomprises a vessel or tub 22, a dasher 24, a cover member 26 and a handcrank 28. Referring to FIG. I, a cup shaped flexible holder 30 which ispreferably made of styrofoam is also provided for holding and insulatingthe ice cream maker when ice cream is being made therein.

The vessel 22 is preferably comprised of a thermoplastic such as a lowdensity polyethylene and acts as a receptacle for a liquid mass fromwhich the ice cream type of dessert can be made. The vessel 22 isbasically comprised of a base member 32 and a generally cylindricallyshaped top member 34. As best seen in FIG. 3, the vessel 22 basicallycomprises a generally vertical and cylindrical wall 36, a horizontallydisposed bottom wall 38 and a generally cylindrical upstanding post 40which extends coaxially with the cylindrical wall 36 and is secured atits lowermost end to the bottom wall 38 of the vessel.

The top portion 34 of the vessel is thus formed of a cylindrical outershell 42 which extends vertically and is integral with a top panel 44which is annular and disposed horizontally and is in turn integrallysecured to an inner cylindrical shell 45. Shell 45 and shell 42 incombination with the panel 44 act to form the hollow wall 36. The innershell 45 is integrally secured at its lowermost end to an annular bottompanel 46 which is also disposed in a horizontal plane and is connectedto the cylindrical shell 48 which forms post 40. The shell 48 hasintegrally secured at the top thereof a circular end panel 50 whichincludes a recess 52.

The base member 32 includes a generally horizontally disposed panel 54which includes ridges 56. At the center of the base 32 is a cylindricalprojection 59 which is disposed at the center of the base and extendscoaxially with the cylindrical shell 48 which forms post 40. At theperiphery of the base 32 a cylindrical collar 58 which is integral withpanel 54 is provided to facilitate securement between the top and baseportions 34 and 32, respectively, of the vessel.

As best seen in FIG. 6, the lowermost end of the outer cylindrical sheet42 of the vessel has a somewhat pointed edge which is adjacent a flange60 and the annular collar 58 includes a complementary recess for receiptof the end of the shell 42. The flange 60 rests on a shoulder 62 and theshell 42 and is preferably joined to the annular collar 58 of the base32 by a spin weld. The cylindrical projection 59 includes verticallyextending slots 61. The projection 59 fits within the shell 48 when thebase 32 is secured to top portion 34. The slots 61 permit passage of arefrigerant between the hollow walls 36 and 38 and the post 40.

As can best be seen in FIG. 3, the welding of the top member 34 to base32 forms a sealed compartment within the walls 36, 38 and post 40. Priorto the spin weld of the base to the top portion of the vessel, arefrigerant is placed inside the post 40 and the wall 36 so that therefrigerant is sealed therein by the securement of the base to the topportion of the vessel.

The dasher 24, preferably comprises a thermoplastic such as high impactpolystyrene and is best seen in FIG. 2 and basically comprises a crankshaft 60 which is integral with an S-shaped bracket 62 which supports apair of scraping members 64 and 66. Each of the scraping membersbasically includes an outer scraper 66 and an inner scraper 68 which areconnected together by a pair of veins 70.,The veins 70 are integrallyconnected between the scrapers 66 and 68 but are disposed at opposingangles with respect thereto in order to enable circulation and createturbulance of the liquid mass within the vessel as the scrapers arerotated about the post within the vessel 22. lntegrally securd to theveins 70 is a vertically extending rib 69. Rib 69 is provided on each ofmembers 64 and 66 for structural rigidityv The dasher 24 also includes apair of semi-circular brackets 72 and 74. The upper bracket 72 isintegrally secured to and centrally of the inner scraper 68 of thescraping members 64 and 66.

The bracket 74 is also integrally secured to the inner scraper 68 at thebottom thereof and extends laterally in the opposite direction from thescraping member 68.

' The brackets 72 and 74 embrace and surround diametrically opposedsurfaces of the post 40 when the scraping members are inserted into thevessel 22.

Disposed below the crank shaft 60 is a projection 76 which depends fromthe crank shaft 60 and like the crank shaft 60 is of a cross-shapedcross-section.

The scrapers 66 and 68, when inserted in vessel 22, are disposedrespectively against the inner shell 54 of wall 36 and the shell 48 ofpost 40. As the crank shaft 60 has applied thereto a clockwise torque,the scrapers 66 and 68 ride along the surfaces of the shell 50, 45 and48. Thus, when a liquid mass is provided within the wall 36, walls 38and between post 40 and the refrigerant within the sealed compartmentwithin the vessel 22 is frozen, the ice formed against the shells 45 and48 is scraped off to increase the speed of freezing the entire mixtureprovided within the vessel.

Referring back to FIG. 1, the cover member 26 is preferably comprised ofa thermoplastic such as low density polyethylene and includes acylindrical skirt 100 which extends about the cover 26. As best seen inFIG. 3, the skirt 100 overlaps the topmost edge of the wall 36 of thevessel 22 when the ice cream making apparatus is assembled as seen inFIGS. 1 and 3.

As also best seen in FIG. 2, the cover member includes an opening 102 atthe center thereof through which the crank shaft 60 of the dasherextends. As best seen in FIG. 3, the opening 102 includes an enlargedportion 103 and a narrow portion 104. ()nly the crank shaft 60 fitswithin the reduced portion 104 while the hand crank 28, which is fittedover the crank shaft 60 also fits within the enlarged portion 103.

The hand crank 28 is preferably comprised of a thermoplastic such ashigh impact polystyrene and basically includes an arm and a handle 112.At the opposite end of the arm 110 is a socket 1 14 which, as best seenin FIG. 5, receives the crank shaft 60.

In operation, the vessel 22 is placed in the freezing compartment of arefrigerator for approximately 12 hours.

When a frozen dessert is ready to be made from a liquid mass, the vesselis removed from the freezer and is placed within the holder 30 which iscup shaped and is adapted to snuggly receive the vessel 20. Since theholder 30 is insulated, very little heat can be drawn into the vessel 20from the outer shell 42 thereof. The liquid mass from which the frozendessert is made is then placed within the vessel 22 between the wall 36and the post 40. The dasher 24 is then placed in the vessel with thedepending projection 76 inserted in recess 52 of post 50 and thebrackets 72 and 74 embracing the post 40. The vessel is then placed inthe freezer for approximately 30 minutes and is then removed. The covermember 26 is then placed over the top of the vessel 22 with the crankshaft 60 extending through opening 102 of the cover member 100. Thecrank shaft 28 is then assembled on the crank shaft 60 by inserting thesocket l 14 over the end of the crank shaft 60. The hand crank is thenrotated clockwise looking down at the ice cream maker 20 and a desserthaving a frozen consistency similar to ice cream is then quickly formedfrom the liquid mass within the vessel 22.

It should be noted that the thickness of wall 36 of vessel 22 is taperedtowards the top and the diameter of post 40 is tapered toward its topwhile scraping members 62 and 64 are tapered toward the bottom. Thiscauses a better fit between the scraping members and the shells 45 and48 as well as case of placing the dasher in the vessel.

The speed of production of the dessert is enhanced by the formation ofice against the shell of the vessel 22 which is a part of the post 40and the wall 36 which provides a large surface area through which heatmay be removed from the liquid mass. In addition, the scraping causes avery quick transmission of the heat from the liquid mass as the frozenmaterial is placed within the body of the liquid mass quickly by thescraping action. This also enables more quick freezing of the liquidmass that is against the shell of the vessel.

The refrigerant may be any conventional coolant which freezes at atemperature of less than 25 F. such as brine. The freezing point ispreferably below 25 F. to enable the freezing of the liquid mass to formthe dessert.

In addition to the normal creamy dairy products which are normally usedto make ice cream, the ice cream maker will also make frozen dessertsusing ingredients such as JUNKET, JELLO, pudding mixes and otherconfections.

It can therefore be seen that the ice cream maker is not onlyinexpensive but also, can operate on inexpensive liquid masses toprovide an ice cream type of dessert. No electricity is required sincethe ice cream maker is merely inserted into the freezing compartment ofa refrigerator. The refrigerant, because it is self contained, does notcause any mess and requires little cleaning up afterwards.

Without further elaboration, the foregoing will so fully illustrate ourinvention that others may, by applying current or futher knowledge,readily adapt the same for use under various conditions of service.

What is claimed as the invention is:

1. Apparatus for making a frozen dessert of the ice cream type, saidapparatus including a cylindrical vessel having an outer generallycylindrical wall, a horizontally extending bottom wall which is integralwith said cylindrical walland a vertically extending post which extendscoaxially with said cylindrical wall and extends upwardly from saidbottom wall, said vessel being open ended at its upper end for receivinga liquid mass from which a frozen dessert can be made, said walls andsaid post being hollow and having therein a chamber in which arefrigerant is provided for freezing said liquid mass, a scraping memberfor removing said mass from the walls of said vessel as said mass isfrozen by the loss of temperature through the shell of said walls andsaid post, said scraping member including a scraper for removing iceformed on said post and a scraper for removing ice formed on saidcylindrical wall, said scraping member also including a crank shaftwhich is in turn connected to a hand crank, said hand crank enablingtorque to be applied to said scraping member for rotation thereof insaid vessel, a cover member which fits over the top of said vessel, saidcrank shaft extending through an opening provided in said cover, saidhand crank being removable from said crank shaft so that said cover canbe removed without removing said scraping member, said scraping memberfurther incuding a depending projection which extends from said crankshaft, said post including a recess for receiving said dependingprojection including facilitate the rotation of said scraping member insaid vessel, said projection being joumaled in said recess with saidpost supporting said scraping member.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said scraping member is comprised oftwo scraping parts, each of which are spaced about said projection andare diametrically separated by said post' 3. The apparatus of claim 2wherein said scraping member further includes a pair of semi-circularbrackets which are secured between said two parts, said brackets fittingabout saidpost to journal said scraping member thereabout.

4. The apparatus of claim l and further including a holder for receivingsaid vessel when said vessel is removed from the freezing compartment ofa refrigerator to insulate said vessel from receiving heat when removedfrom said freezing compartment.

1. Apparatus for making a frozen dessert of the ice cream type, saidapparatus including a cylindrical vessel having an outer generallycylindrical wall, a horizontally extending bottom wall which is integralwith said cylindrical wall and a vertically extending post which extendscoaxially with said cylindrical wall and extends upwardly from saidbottom wall, said vessel being open ended at its upper end for receivinga liquid mass from which a frozen dessert can be made, said walls andsaid post being hollow and having therein a chamber in which arefrigerant is provided for freezing said liquid mass, a scraping memberfor removing said mass from the walls of said vessel as said mass isfrozen by the loss of temperature through the shell oF said walls andsaid post, said scraping member including a scraper for removing iceformed on said post and a scraper for removing ice formed on saidcylindrical wall, said scraping member also including a crank shaftwhich is in turn connected to a hand crank, said hand crank enablingtorque to be applied to said scraping member for rotation thereof insaid vessel, a cover member which fits over the top of said vessel, saidcrank shaft extending through an opening provided in said cover, saidhand crank being removable from said crank shaft so that said cover canbe removed without removing said scraping member, said scraping memberfurther incuding a depending projection which extends from said crankshaft, said post including a recess for receiving said dependingprojection including facilitate the rotation of said scraping member insaid vessel, said projection being journaled in said recess with saidpost supporting said scraping member.
 2. The apparatus of claim 1wherein said scraping member is comprised of two scraping parts, each ofwhich are spaced about said projection and are diametrically separatedby said post.
 3. The apparatus of claim 2 wherein said scraping memberfurther includes a pair of semi-circular brackets which are securedbetween said two parts, said brackets fitting about said post to journalsaid scraping member thereabout.
 4. The apparatus of claim 1 and furtherincluding a holder for receiving said vessel when said vessel is removedfrom the freezing compartment of a refrigerator to insulate said vesselfrom receiving heat when removed from said freezing compartment.